This chapter is based on the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

The first epistle to the Corinthian church was written by
the apostle Paul during the latter part of his stay at Ephesus. For no others
had he felt a deeper interest or put forth more untiring effort than for the
believers in Corinth. For a year and a half he had labored among them, pointing
them to a crucified and risen Saviour as the only means of salvation, and
urging them to rely implicitly on the transforming power of His grace. Before
accepting into church fellowship those who made a profession of Christianity,
he had been careful to give them special instruction as to the privileges and
duties of the Christian believer, and he had earnestly endeavored to help them
to be faithful to their baptismal vows. {AA 298.1}

Paul had a keen sense of the conflict which every soul must
wage with the agencies of evil that are continually seeking to deceive and
ensnare, and he had worked untiringly [299] to
strengthen and confirm those who were young in the faith. He had entreated them
to make an entire surrender to God; for he knew that when the soul fails to
make this surrender, then sin is not forsaken, the appetites and passions still
strive for the mastery, and temptations confuse the conscience. {AA 298.2}

The surrender must be complete. Every weak, doubting,
struggling soul who yields fully to the Lord is placed in direct touch with
agencies that enable him to overcome. Heaven is near to him, and he has the
support and help of angels of mercy in every time of trial and need. {AA 299.1}

The members of the church at Corinth were surrounded by
idolatry and sensuality of the most alluring form. While the apostle was with
them, these influences had but little power over them. Paul's firm faith, his
fervent prayers and earnest words of instruction, and, above all, his godly
life had helped them to deny self for Christ's sake rather than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin. {AA
299.2}

After the departure of Paul, however, unfavorable conditions
arose; tares that had been sown by the enemy appeared among the wheat, and
erelong these began to bring forth their evil fruit. This was a time of severe
trial to the Corinthian church. The apostle was no longer with them to quicken
their zeal and aid them in their endeavors to live in harmony with God, and
little by little many became careless and indifferent, and allowed natural
tastes and inclinations to control them. He who had so often urged them to high
ideals of purity and uprightness was no longer with them, and not a few who, at
the time of their conversion, [300] had put away their evil habits,
returned to the debasing sins of heathenism. {AA 299.3}

Paul had written briefly to the church, admonishing them
"not to company" with members who should persist in profligacy; but
many of the believers perverted the apostle's meaning, quibbled over his words,
and excused themselves for disregarding his instruction. {AA 300.1}

A letter was sent to Paul by the church, asking for counsel
concerning various matters, but saying nothing of the grievous sins existing
among them. The apostle was, however, forcibly impressed by the Holy Spirit
that the true state of the church had been concealed and that this letter was
an attempt to draw from him statements which the writers could construe to
serve their own purposes. {AA
300.2}

About this time there came to Ephesus members of the
household of Chloe, a Christian family of high repute in Corinth. Paul asked
them regarding the condition of things, and they told him that the church was
rent by divisions. The dissensions that had prevailed at the time of Apollos's
visit had greatly increased. False teachers were leading the members to despise
the instructions of Paul. The doctrines and ordinances of the gospel had been
perverted. Pride, idolatry, and sensualism, were steadily increasing among
those who had once been zealous in the Christian life. {AA 300.3}

As this picture was presented before him, Paul saw that his
worst fears were more than realized. But he did not because of this give way to
the thought that his work had been a failure. With "anguish of heart"
and with "many [301] tears" he sought counsel
from God. Gladly would he have visited Corinth at once, had this been the
wisest course to pursue. But he knew that in their present condition the
believers would not profit by his labors, and therefore he sent Titus to
prepare the way for a visit from himself later on. Then, putting aside all
personal feelings over the course of those whose conduct revealed such strange
perverseness, and keeping his soul stayed upon God, the apostle wrote to the
church at Corinth one of the richest, most instructive, most powerful of all
his letters. {AA 300.4}

With remarkable clearness he proceeded to answer the various
questions brought forward by the church, and to lay down general principles,
which, if heeded, would lead them to a higher spiritual plane. They were in
peril, and he could not bear the thought of failing at this critical time to
reach their hearts. Faithfully he warned them of their dangers and reproved
them for their sins. He pointed them again to Christ and sought to kindle anew
the fervor of their early devotion. {AA 301.1}

The apostle's great love for the Corinthian believers was
revealed in his tender greeting to the church. He referred to their experience
in turning from idolatry to the worship and service of the true God. He
reminded them of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which they had received, and
showed that it was their privilege to make continual advancement in the
Christian life until they should attain to the purity and holiness of Christ.
"In everything ye are enriched by Him," he wrote, "in all
utterance, and in all knowledge; even as [302] the
testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift;
waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you
unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ." {AA 301.2}

Paul spoke plainly of the dissensions that had arisen in the
Corinthian church, and exhorted the members to cease from strife. "I
beseech you, brethren," he wrote, "by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among
you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment." {AA 302.1}

The apostle felt at liberty to mention how and by whom he
had been informed of the divisions in the church. "It hath been declared
unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that
there are contentions among you." {AA 302.2}

Paul was an inspired apostle. The truths he taught to others
he had received "by revelation;" yet the Lord did not directly reveal
to him at all times just the condition of His people. In this instance those
who were interested in the prosperity of the church at Corinth, and who had
seen evils creeping in, had presented the matter before the apostle, and from
divine revelations which he had formerly received he was prepared to judge of
the character of these developments. Notwithstanding the fact that the Lord did
not give him a new revelation for that special time, those who were really
seeking for light accepted his message as [303]
expressing the mind of Christ. The Lord had shown him the difficulties and
dangers which would arise in the churches, and, as these evils developed, the
apostle recognized their significance. He had been set for the defense of the
church. He was to watch for souls as one who must render account to God, and
was it not consistent and right for him to take notice of the reports
concerning the anarchy and divisions among them? Most assuredly; and the
reproof he sent them was as certainly written under the inspiration of the
Spirit of God as were any of his other epistles. {AA 302.3}

The apostle made no mention of the false teachers who were
seeking to destroy the fruit of his labor. Because of the darkness and division
in the church, he wisely forbore to irritate them by such references, for fear
of turning some entirely from the truth. He called attention to his own work
among them as that of "a wise master builder," who had laid the
foundation upon which others had built. But he did not thereby exalt himself;
for he declared, "We are laborers together with God." He claimed no
wisdom of his own, but acknowledged that divine power alone had enabled him to
present the truth in a manner pleasing to God. United with Christ, the greatest
of all teachers, Paul had been enabled to communicate lessons of divine wisdom,
which met the necessities of all classes, and which were to apply at all times,
in all places, and under all conditions. {AA 303.1}

Among the more serious of the evils that had developed among
the Corinthian believers, was that of a return to many of the debasing customs
of heathenism. One former [304] convert had so far backslidden
that his licentious course was a violation of even the low standard of morality
held by the Gentile world. The apostle pleaded with the church to put away from
among them "that wicked person." "Know ye not," he
admonished them, "that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out
therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are
unleavened." {AA
303.2}

Another grave evil that had arisen in the church was that of
brethren going to law against one another. Abundant provision had been made for
the settlement of difficulties among believers. Christ Himself had given plain
instruction as to how such matters were to be adjusted. "If thy brother
shall trespass against thee," the Saviour had counseled, "go and tell
him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast
gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or
two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be
established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but
if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a
publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven." Matthew 18:15-18. {AA 304.1}

To the Corinthian believers who had lost sight of this plain
counsel, Paul wrote in no uncertain terms of admonition and rebuke. "Dare
any of you," he asked, "having a matter against another, go to law
before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints
shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are [305]
ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge
angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have
judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least
esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a
wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his
brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the
unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to
law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? . . . Nay, ye
do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" {AA 304.2}

Satan is constantly seeking to introduce distrust,
alienation, and malice among God's people. We shall often be tempted to feel
that our rights are invaded, even when there is no real cause for such
feelings. Those whose love for self is stronger than their love for Christ and
His cause will place their own interests first and will resort to almost any
expedient to guard and maintain them. Even many who appear to be conscientious
Christians are hindered by pride and self-esteem from going privately to those
whom they think in error, that they may talk with them in the spirit of Christ
and pray together for one another. When they think themselves injured by their
brethren, some will even go to law instead of following the Saviour's rule. {AA 305.1}

Christians should not appeal to civil tribunals to settle
differences that may arise among church members. Such differences should be
settled among themselves, or by the [306] church, in harmony
with Christ's instruction. Even though injustice may have been done, the
follower of the meek and lowly Jesus will suffer himself "to be
defrauded" rather than open before the world the sins of his brethren in
the church. {AA 305.2}

Lawsuits between brethren are a reproach to the cause of
truth. Christians who go to law with one another expose the church to the
ridicule of her enemies and cause the powers of darkness to triumph. They are
wounding Christ afresh and putting Him to open shame. By ignoring the authority
of the church, they show contempt for God, who gave to the church its
authority. {AA 306.1}

In this letter to the Corinthians Paul endeavored to show
them Christ's power to keep them from evil. He knew that if they would comply
with the conditions laid down, they would be strong in the strength of the
Mighty One. As a means of helping them to break away from the thralldom of sin
and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, Paul urged upon them the
claims of Him to whom they had dedicated their lives at the time of their
conversion. "Ye are Christ's," he declared. "Ye are not your
own. . . . Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God's." {AA 306.2}

The apostle plainly outlined the result of turning from a
life of purity and holiness to the corrupt practices of heathenism. "Be
not deceived," he wrote; "neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, . . . nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." He begged
them to control [307] the lower passions and
appetites. "Know ye not," he asked, "that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?" {AA 306.3}

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While Paul possessed high intellectual endowments, his life
revealed the power of a rarer wisdom, which gave him quickness of insight and
sympathy of heart, and brought him into close touch with others, enabling him
to arouse their better nature and inspire them to strive for a higher life. His
heart was filled with an earnest love for the Corinthian believers. He longed
to see them revealing an inward piety that would fortify them against
temptation. He knew that at every step in the Christian pathway they would be
opposed by the synagogue of Satan and that they would have to engage in
conflicts daily. They would have to guard against the stealthy approach of the
enemy, forcing back old habits and natural inclinations, and ever watching unto
prayer. Paul knew that the higher Christian attainments can be reached only
through much prayer and constant watchfulness, and this he tried to instill
into their minds. But he knew also that in Christ crucified they were offered
power sufficient to convert the soul and divinely adapted to enable them to
resist all temptations to evil. With faith in God as their armor, and with His
word as their weapon of warfare, they would be supplied with an inner power
that would enable them to turn aside the attacks of the enemy. {AA 307.1}

The Corinthian believers needed a deeper experience in the
things of God. They did not know fully what it meant to behold His glory and to
be changed from character [308] to character. They had seen but
the first rays of the early dawn of that glory. Paul's desire for them was that
they might be filled with all the fullness of God, following on to know Him
whose going forth is prepared as the morning, and continuing to learn of Him
until they should come into the full noontide of a perfect gospel faith. {AA 307.2}